Opinion
We need to tackle sexual violence in south-east Europe
Face-to-face interviews with 15,179 women reveal that beliefs in female subservience and marital obedience continue to persist in south-eastern and eastern Europe.
News in Brief
- North Macedonia EU-membership talks set for June
- EU ups benefits rights for mobile workers
- Chinese leader visits Italy, France as Rome joins 'Silk Road'
- EU agrees to sanction political parties breaching data rules
- EPP votes Wednesday on future of Orban's party
- Nordic MEP candidates in first ever joint EU election debate
- Merkel: I will fight to the 'last hour' for orderly Brexit
- EU affairs ministers demand Brexit clarity from London
Macedonia to join next wave of EU enlargement
Two million people in Macedonia will be hoping to become EU citizens in 2025 as leaders give nod to start talks.
Opinion
EU should brace for a more authoritarian Erdogan
The new blend of religious nationalism will be more anti-West and anti-EU, as Brussels has anything but leverage on Turkey. The first signs of this strong rhetoric are already visible.
Opinion
Ukrainian election: a country struggling to reform itself
With a record of 44 candidates running for president, it remains to be seen who will become Ukraine's next leader. But will Ukrainian politicians and their international partners be able to keep the country on the road to reform?
Opinion
Eastern Europe Matters
The foreign ministers of Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic reflect on 10 years of the Eastern Partnership with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Interview
Turkish NBA star takes on Erdogan
Turkish NBA basketball star, Enes Kanter, gave up joining teammates in a London match over fears of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reach into the EU.
Opinion
Why it's time for the Kosovo Security Force
The Kosovan deputy PM calls on Nato members to follow the US in supporting the enlargement of the Kosovo Securitiy Force. "Kosovo owes it to both its own people and the international community to take this step", Behgjet Pacolli says.
Opinion
Why is Orban embracing a criminal from Western Balkans?
Orban's Hungary will edge closer to Russia and cause discord within its Western alliances if it gets away with harbouring a convicted ex-PM.
Opinion
Amending the constitution: A historic opportunity for Macedonia
After the fleeing of ex-PM Nikola Gruevski to Hungary, what Macedonia needs is an independent judiciary so that wrongdoers from all parties are brought behind bars, and a reconciliation between Albanians and Macedonians, based on full equality between communities.
Opinion
EU must recognise new force for Balkans destabilisation
EU foreign ministers will discuss Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday. The EU has the opportunity to show that it is not a political dwarf in the Balkans, where not only economic, but also political reforms are necessary.
Anti-Erdogan reporter risks deportation from Germany
Adil Yigit, a Turkish journalist in Germany advocating the release of imprisoned colleagues, has been ordered to leave the country by the end of January.
Opinion
Nationalism and polarisation in Macedonia's referendum
In an attempt to bury a three-decade-long dispute with Greece over the country's name, Macedonia's referendum has thrown open as many issues as it sought to overcome.
Opinion
Kosovo's Interpol bid - and its ramifications for EU
Interpol's fight against cross-border crime demands cooperation, not politics - be it from Serbia or China.
'Demotivated, disillusioned' Bosnians head to polls
Sunday's election - in one of the most complex political systems in the world - sees many Bosnia's worry the EU has already given up hope on them. Fears of electoral fraud are unlikely to help.
Opinion
EU blackmailed: behind the scenes of Kosovo-Serbia talks
Aleksandar Vucic, Vladimir Putin, and Hashim Thaci are blackmailing the EU for political and personal gain. With the US going against Germany, prospects of a happy outcome look dim.
Tensions mount over Kosovo-Serbia deal
Serbia will never recognise Kosovo, Serbia's foreign minister has said, as the Western Balkans heads into a new period of turbulence.
Germany urges EU to rival China in Western Balkans
The EU and US have voiced concern on Chinese and Russian influence in the Balkans as the region's countries prepare to move closer to Western bloc.
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Latest News
- US glyphosate verdict gives ammunition to EU activists
- Have a good reason for Brexit extension, Barnier tells UK
- EU countries push for new rule of law surveillance
- EU rolls out €525m for military projects, but bars illegal tech
- May to seek Brexit extension amid UK 'constitutional crisis'
- Catalan independence trial is widening Spain's divides
- My plan for defending rule of law in EU
- Anti-corruption lawyer wins first round of Slovak elections
Opinion
Kosovo-Serbia deal: addressing the fears
Window of opportunity for Kosovo-Serbia deal is wide open, but not for long, the Kosovar president's chief of staff writes for EUobserver as talks resume on Friday.
EU eyes Kosovo and Serbia enlargement deal
EU institutions have voiced hope of a new breakthrough in Western Balkans enlargement, despite "nerves" about land swaps for ethnic reasons.
EU commissioner goes against Merkel on Balkans borders
The EU commission has endorsed the idea of a Kosovo-Serbia border change, going against Germany and breaking a former taboo.
Opinion
How long can Bulgaria keep facing both East and West?
Sofia may be wearing out its welcome with Western democracies by playing both sides - seeking closer integration in Europe while cosying up to Moscow and Beijing, claiming to work towards hitting EU targets while putting its own interests first.
Turkey ends state of emergency but continues crackdown
The state of emergency introduced after the failed coup in 2016 ended on Thursday morning - but a new terror bill will maintain some of its measures.
EU delays Macedonia and Albania talks
Accession talks to start in 2019, not this year as hoped, after France, Denmark and Netherlands force delay despite breakthrough on Macedonia name dispute.
Tear gas bodes ill for Macedonia name deal
Police fired tear gas against protesters in Greece and Macedonia over the weekend, as diplomats signed a name deal to unlock EU enlargement.
Basque threat of 'second front' for independence
Last weekend some 175,000 people in the Basque country demanded a 'right to decide'. For some, it means more autonomy from Spain, others independence. "We want to open a second front within the Spanish state," says one Basque politician.
Macedonia expects 'breakthrough' in Greece talks
Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev has said a "breakthrough" on the name dispute is imminent, as he prepares to speak to his Greek counterpart on Friday.
Lifting emergency laws could unfreeze Turkey's EU bid
EU ambassador to Turkey said member states may consider reopening accession talks with Ankara if Erdogan put an end to the post-coup state of emergency.
'Connectivity' trumps enlargement at Balkans summit
At the first summit in 15 years with Western Balkan leaders, EU chiefs made it clear that enlargement is not at hand - but offered economic incentives to keep the region close to the bloc.
Opinion
Europe's last wild rivers under threat at Balkans summit
The EU is prioritising motorways and gas pipelines across the potential accession Western Balkan countries, plus hydropower energy projects which threaten one of the world's freshwater biodiversity hotspots.
Devil in detail of Macedonia name talks
Unlocking Macedonia talks could be this year's big breakthrough in EU enlargement, but the devil's in the detail of Macedonia's constitution, as Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras meet in Sofia.
Analysis
Beyond macho: Turkish-EU ties
Turkey has belittled the EU in a week of macho posturing, but strategic relations go deeper than the rhetoric.
EU enlargement: Albania advances, Turkey backslides
Albania and Macedonia should start accession talks, but human rights abuses mean Turkey should stay on hold, EU says in draft report seen by EUobserver.
Opinion
Opportunity not to be missed in Greece-Macedonia row
A country that has only 20 percent of the population of Greece and virtually no military forces cannot reasonably be considered a security concern.
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